A Collaborative Approach to Protecting the Global Environment

A
Collaborative Approach to Protecting the Global Environment

At
the SEMICON West 2013 Global Care Luncheon held on July 9, Mary Puma, chairman
and CEO of Axcelis Technology and chair of the SEMI EHS Executive Committee,
talked about Global Care and working together to identify approaches to
operationalize EHS principles.Jerry Sowers, corporate VP of Global Quality and EHS at Lam
Research (which was one of 24 charter members of Global Care in 2000), introduced Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of GLOBALFOUNDRIES.

Manocha is also the 2013 recipient of the
“SEMI Outstanding EHS Achievement Award – Inspired by Akira Inoue,” receiving
the award after his keynote address at the SEMICON West Opening Ceremony in the
morning. He spoke at the Global Care Luncheon
about key concerns and issues in current day semiconductor manufacturing
including topics such as energy and water conservation, emissions reduction,
zero-incident safety culture, and the World Semiconductor Council's conflict-free supply chain policy.

Despite the fact that Manocha was designated as the single recipient of the Outstanding EHS Achievement Award, he continually stressed the fact that EHS goal advancement has been and will always be a collaborative effort.

Manocha states that for PFCs emissions reduction, the industry is making progress. However, over the past few years, the advancement in energy and water use trends in the semiconductor industry has been disappointing. Manocha states that “After many years of progress, recent trends for water consumption are flat, or even up (for electricity consumption). We should be making further improvements.”

As company consolidation and the number of
leading-edge companies decrease, the responsibility and burden of EHS
leadership increases greatly, and he reminds the group, “This has to be a
collaborative effort.”

EHS is ingrained in the GLOBALFOUNDRIES culture, he says, “With three 300mm mega-fabs in Germany, Singapore, and New York (going into giga-fab mode), each fab is focused on energy efficiency and high-volume sustainable manufacturing.”

As
R&D continues to develop, many new materials are being incorporated in R&D and production of semiconductors.

Manocha
talked about how we are doing a great job with innovation, which is dependent on new materials. The industry
used to deal with 11 elements from the Periodic Table. In the 1990s, four
elements were added, and now the industry is dealing with 45+ elements
potentially. He says that “It is our
responsibility to make sure that they are handled properly. We must focus on innovation and environmental responsibility. Manocha also told the EHS Executive Committee
that SRC is expanding its focus on EHS research through a new membership model,
and encouraged them to consider joining this effort.

Under a unanimous vote in May 2013, the World
Semiconductor Council (WSC) adopted a conflict-free supply chain policy. The goal is to ensure responsible sourcing of minerals, particularly from the Congo region in consideration of the current human rights
issues.

Manocha also addressed the need for U.S. legislation to continue operation of the Federal Helium reserve. If helium sales from the reserve cease, approximately 30 percent of global helium supply will be taken off the market.
At the moment, there are no known substitutes for helium. Legislation must be passed in Congress
to extend the time period for which the government will sell helium.

Overall, through SIA, WSC, and SEMI, the industry aims to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions, improve eco-efficiency, advance EHS research, achieve a
conflict-free supply chain, and pass legislation in Congress to extend the time
period for helium sales. Though the
industry is on track to meet sustainability goals for 2020, Manocha stresses
that it is not time to sit back and relax, but to continually strive to
improve. “Don’t be complacent about this… we must keep clear focus on these things to ensure we are going in the right direction.”

For more information on Global
Care and SEMI EHS, please contact Sanjay Baliga at sbaliga@semi.org.